Trading Shots: On Anthony Johnson's MMA media criticism

Anthony Johnson

In this week’s Trading Shots, retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes joins MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes to discuss Anthony Johnson’s choice words for the media assembled on press row after his second-round knockout win over Jimi Manuwa at UFC 191 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Fowlkes: Well Danny, after a surprisingly grappling-heavy first round, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson put Jimi Manuwa away in pretty much the most violent fashion possible, which would seem like exactly the kind of thing he needed to distract us from his recent woes outside the cage. At least, it seemed that way for all of three minutes, until he walked out of the cage and yelled at the media for writing about the bad things he has literally admitted to doing.

Explaining his remarks at the post-fight press conference, Johnson said, “A lot of you guys write a lot of bullsh-t. But that’s what you do. That’s what you have to do to get paid, and I’m fine with that. But if you’re going to write something bad, also write something good.”

Am I alone in thinking that, had he not said anything about the negative press he’s gotten recently – most of it as a result of negative things he has done and then bragged about on social media – he might have gotten his wish for purely positive coverage? Am I the only one who thinks it’s maybe a doomed strategy just in general to yell at people that they should say something nice about you?

Downes: It would seem like a poor choice, and I would assume that you’re not the only one with whom this strategy will backfire. Any fighter who has had all the out-of-the-cage problems Johnson has would be exposed to similar levels of scrutiny. “Rumble,” however, is particularly ripe for criticism because he appears to lack any remorse. Even if he simply ignored the charges, he’d be better off. Instead, he just doubles down and makes the situation worse.

Athletes make poor choices, then apologize and we forget about what they did until something else happens. With Johnson, we never make it to the forgetting stage because he doesn’t really apologize. Everyone likes a winner. As long as an athlete remains successful, people tend to give him a pass on his other conduct. But Johnson has broken the mold. His actions overshadow his successes.

Without getting into a discussion about the market for the “bad” articles Johnson dislikes (part of which we discussed last week), how do you treat a fighter like Johnson? The media certainly has a role in bringing bad conduct to light, but what does that entail? In every article referencing Johnson from now until the end of time, do you just slap the “embattled” preface and link to an article about domestic violence or his Facebook rant? Is that enough?

Fowlkes: I think you’re right that lack of remorse is a big part of the problem. Him lashing out at the media for covering what it obviously a legitimate news story, especially when it involves a convicted domestic abuser who is also a pro fighter, demonstrates that lack of remorse in action.

It’s as if Johnson sees himself as the aggrieved party here, which, I guess he must, because when talking about his latest incident he made sure to insist that he and the woman he yelled at were “both in the wrong,” and according to him they both apologized. Clearly, this is not someone who views his own actions the way most other people, including the UFC’s “independent” investigators, view them. He seems more inconvenienced than genuinely sorry.

What worries me about him is that he seems to be learning nothing. As long as he can blame the media for making a big deal out of this, he can continue to tell himself that he doesn’t have the problem. He keeps telling us that he doesn’t care what we write about him, but he clearly does. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be telling us to write something “good” about him now.

And the thing about that is, dude, we will write good stuff about you when you do good stuff. Winning fights, for instance. That’s good. Had he not complained about the negative coverage he got for doing negative stuff, we would have probably focused just on his latest win. But the same way you can’t lose a fight and then complain that the media refused to write that you won it, you can’t go around being a jerk to people and expect us to write that you’re a nice guy. It just doesn’t work that way.

As for how long we keep bringing this stuff up, I think that’s up to Johnson. Mike Tyson did prison time for sexual assault, admitted to battering women, and now the combat sports world has forgiven and forgotten, and embraces him to a sort of uncomfortable degree. I guess the answer to the question of how long we’re going to keep talking about Johnson’s issues with women is, how long is he going to force us to?

Downes: Isn’t that a problem? All the guy has to do is win a fight and keep his mouth shut? I agree that if Johnson didn’t complain about his negative press that he would have gotten a free pass. At most he would have received the “despite his recent controversies” treatment.

I disagree slightly with your assessment of the situation, though. Johnson doesn’t view himself as inconvenienced – he actually thinks that he’s the one being unfairly persecuted. In that article by Jeremy Botter, Johnson also says, “I’m just a public figure and [the media] wants to make an example out of me.”

That means he doesn’t see the direct correlation between what he does and what’s written about him. In some ways, you could credit him for deft Machiavellianism, but it’s more likely a lack of self-awareness. I understand when a fighter doesn’t believe a judge’s scorecard or disagrees with a media member’s assessment of his fighting style. I don’t understand this, though. We’re not talking about the nuances of a jab or weighting takedowns over counter-punching. We’re talking about actual events.

I say that we take Johnson at his word. Maybe someone should make an example of him. By that, I mean that he should continue to be held accountable for what he’s done (or failed to do). Fans should do the same. Instead of forgetting, we should be reminding people. We expect the same from coverage on Floyd Mayweather, so why not Anthony Johnson? Some would say that’s not the role of journalists, but I tend to agree with Jack Shafer’s thoughts on the matter. The only problem is, what would that entail? You can’t make a person’s choices for him, but surely media and fans wield some power, right?

Fowlkes: When you put it like that, yes, it is kind of sad that all the guy has to do is keep winning while not actively reminding us of his past misdeeds in order to get a pass. It’s even sadder that he can’t seem to do that.

I’m torn, because, on one hand, you want to believe in second (and third and fourth) chances. You’d hate to condemn the guy to a life sentence in terms of public opinion because people can and do change, right? On the other hand, it’d be just a little too insane to say that this guy is so good at violence toward men that he deserves our silence on his record of violence toward women. It seems like the kind of thing he could put behind him, but in one way or another he keeps refusing to, maybe because he can’t seem to acknowledge that this is his problem and not anyone else’s.

I think some fighters have a legitimate gripe with the media. Especially those fighters, like Ronda Rousey, who are so famous that they are essentially denied a private life, I sympathize with them. She can’t even go to Wal-Mart without it being news, and the MMA media seems to have no qualms with offering opinions on her love life. That must suck, honestly. That seems like a special brand of hell, and all for, what, the sin of being really, really good at your job? I wouldn’t wish that sort of fame on anyone.

But Johnson’s problems are entirely of his own making. The more he insists on trying to shift the blame, the more it makes me think that this is going to happen again.

Downes: You’re right that we don’t want to give somebody a life sentence. We like to think that people can change, and we hope for the best. The only thing people like better than the fall is the redemption story. Redemption has to be earned, though. And honestly, it’s not that hard. Whether they’re athletes or movie stars, celebrities’ penances are relatively light.

Even if Johnson never has another problem outside the cage, his recent (and past) actions can’t be ignored. It doesn’t matter how much he donates to charities. I’m definitely in the “athletes aren’t role models” camp. That doesn’t mean, though, that they are beyond reproach. It doesn’t mean that we should avoid discussing their conduct and solely focus on their athletic achievements. Competing at the highest level is a job, but it’s also a privilege.

We can and should condemn poor behavior and praise the positive. Johnson may be correct when he says, “If you’re going to write something bad, also write something good.” He just has to give us something good to write about.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.